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GitHub Flavored Markdown VS Asciidoctor

Compare GitHub Flavored Markdown VS Asciidoctor and see what are their differences

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GitHub Flavored Markdown logo GitHub Flavored Markdown

GitHub uses "GitHub Flavored Markdown," or GFM, across the site--in issues, comments, and...

Asciidoctor logo Asciidoctor

In the spirit of free software, everyone is encouraged to help improve this project.
  • GitHub Flavored Markdown Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-27
  • Asciidoctor Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-20

GitHub Flavored Markdown features and specs

  • Widespread Usage
    GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) is widely used in the GitHub community, making it a popular choice for collaborating on open-source projects and documenting code repositories.
  • Enhanced Features
    GFM extends the standard Markdown with additional features like tables, strikethrough, and syntax highlighting, allowing for more expressive and informative content.
  • Version Control Integration
    GFM is seamlessly integrated with GitHub’s version control system, making it easy to track changes, collaborate on documentation, and propose updates through pull requests.
  • Live Preview
    GitHub provides a live preview of Markdown files, which helps users see how their Markdown will render, ensuring the final document looks as expected.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    Since GFM is based on Markdown, documents can be easily shared and rendered across different platforms and services, retaining consistent formatting.

Possible disadvantages of GitHub Flavored Markdown

  • Limited Advanced Formatting
    While GFM offers several enhancements over standard Markdown, it still lacks support for some advanced formatting options found in richer text editors or other markup languages.
  • GitHub Dependency
    GFM is primarily designed to work within the GitHub ecosystem, which can limit usefulness outside of GitHub, especially if using features specific to GFM.
  • Learning Curve
    Users familiar with standard Markdown might need to learn the additional syntax and features of GFM, which can be an initial barrier for some.
  • Consistency Issues
    Rendering consistency might vary when GFM documents are viewed outside of GitHub, as some features might not be supported in other Markdown processors.

Asciidoctor features and specs

  • Human-Readable Syntax
    Asciidoctor uses the AsciiDoc syntax, which is designed to be easy to read and write by humans. This makes it accessible for both technical and non-technical users, easing the learning curve.
  • Output Formats
    It supports a wide range of output formats including HTML, PDF, DocBook, EPUB, and more, providing flexibility in how documents are presented and shared.
  • Customizable and Extensible
    Asciidoctor is highly customizable and can be extended with custom extensions and plugins. This allows users to tailor the tool to their specific documentation needs and workflows.
  • Open Source
    Asciidoctor is an open-source project, fostering a community-driven development environment. This ensures transparency and continuous improvements driven by a diverse set of contributors.
  • Integration with Tooling
    It integrates well with various build tools and editors such as Maven, Gradle, and AsciiDoc plugins for IDEs, aiding in seamless documentation processes and version control.

Possible disadvantages of Asciidoctor

  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While basic documentation is easy to produce, mastering advanced features and custom extensions may require a deeper understanding of the system, which can be challenging for new users.
  • Limited Native PDF Support
    Asciidoctor's native support for generating PDFs is less robust compared to its HTML output, often requiring additional tools like Asciidoctor PDF or DocBook for high-quality results.
  • Dependency Management
    External dependencies are sometimes needed for specific outputs or extensions (like PDF generation), which might complicate project setups and increase build times.
  • Less Widespread Adoption
    Compared to markdown, Asciidoctor has less widespread adoption, which might result in fewer community resources, tutorials, and third-party integrations available for support.
  • Compatibility Issues
    Integration with certain tools and workflows can present compatibility issues, especially when dealing with continuously updated software ecosystems.

GitHub Flavored Markdown videos

+ Add

Demystifying Markdown – Learn GitHub flavored Markdown (GFM) on Skillshare | Clyde D'Souza

Asciidoctor videos

+ Add

Code your documentation with AsciiDoctor - open source is for everyone

More videos:

  • Review - [VDM19] Asciidoctor: because writing docs does not have to suck by Adres Almiray
  • Review - 10 Useful Asciidoctor Tips

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GitHub Flavored Markdown and Asciidoctor)

GitHub Flavored Markdown

Asciidoctor

Documentation
21 21%
Documentation
79% 79
Documentation As A Service & Tools
33 33%
Documentation As A Service & Tools
67% 67
Text Editors
100 100%
Text Editors
0% 0
Knowledge Base
0 0%
Knowledge Base
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare GitHub Flavored Markdown and Asciidoctor

GitHub Flavored Markdown Reviews

We have no reviews of GitHub Flavored Markdown yet.
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Asciidoctor Reviews

  1. Elisa
    · Technical Writer at Self ·
    Professional output from open source

    If you are looking for an open documentation solution ny which you can implement single sourcing while integrating with a complex build process then this is a great solution.

    👍 Pros:    Easy integration|Easy to use

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Asciidoctor seems to be a lot more popular than GitHub Flavored Markdown. While we know about 24 links to Asciidoctor, we've tracked only 1 mention of GitHub Flavored Markdown. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

GitHub Flavored Markdown mentions (1)

  • Resources for proper putting of code on to GitHub ?
    Not sure quite what you mean. Are you asking "what should I put on GitHub" or "how to make it look pretty?" For the latter, check out https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/writing-on-github. Source: about 2 years ago

Asciidoctor mentions (24)

View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing GitHub Flavored Markdown and Asciidoctor, you can also consider the following products

Text::Amuse - Markup language for AMuseWiki.

Markdown by DaringFireball - Text-to-HTML conversion tool/syntax for web writers, by John Gruber

Caoutchouc - Typesetting language using Markdown and AsciiMath to format documents

reStructuredText - Invented for Python documentation.

Groff - The groff (GNU troff) software is a typesetting package which reads plain text mixed with...

Antora - A static site generator for creating documentation sites from AsciiDoc content aggregated from...

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